[[alternative]]Research on Doctors' Personal Medical-Care Seeking Behaviors

[[abstract]] 求醫行為是生而為人所必經的歷程，本研究的目的乃是希望從醫師的角度出發探討其相關之求醫行為模式。研究者以PPS及系統抽樣方式對全國醫師、牙醫師作問卷調查，共回收242份有效問卷，有效回收率為34.6 %，並將所得資料以次數分析、卡方考驗作交叉比較後得出以下主要結論。 整體而言，醫師在相關求醫資訊來源部分，大部分醫師不論在打聽任何科系醫師，或查詢任何相關醫療資訊上均算容易，當醫師本身求醫時，並不在意看診醫師的性別、年齡，「是否認識該醫師」才是主要的考慮因素，但若合併考慮該看診醫師「醫術是否精湛」時，則以後者為優先選擇。在醫病溝通上，身為「醫師病人」的角色比身為「醫師」的角色，比較少出現醫病之間的溝通問題。 研究顯示，西醫師對不同醫療體系的信任程度，依次為西醫、中醫、民俗療法。在利用率上，不論是本身或是認識的西醫朋友均以西醫的處置方式為首選，其次則是選擇中醫藥，選擇的原因是「因該疾病西醫無有效的治療方法」及「試試無妨」的態度。基本上，醫師對不同醫療體系的信任度與利用率呈現正相關的關係。 研究指出，西醫師在從事臨床工作後對於西醫以外的醫療利用率有明顯降低的趨勢。但是若特別強調針對惡性腫瘤的治療，則西醫師對中醫的利用率增加近兩倍；而對民俗療法的利用率則增加至三倍強。而且，服務場所的醫療環境會影響西醫師對中醫的利用率，在服務場所中有提供中醫服務者，西醫師對中醫的利用率相對地比沒提供中醫服務場所中的西醫師，有較高的中醫利用率。 [[abstract]] Medical-care seeking behavior is one of the inevitable life processes for human beings. A random sample of 700 doctors (dentists included) in Taiwan received a mailed, anonymous questionnaire focusing on their personal medical-care seeking behaviors. Probing the related behavior patterns from the perspective of doctors themselves is the main purpose of this research. The effective response rate was 34.6 % (242 copies). Data were analyzed by using SPSS for Windows (version 8.0). Bivariate associations were evaluated by performing frequency table and Chi-square tests. Level of significance was set in P≦0.05 (95 % confidence level). The conclusions are listed below： In general, it’s not difficult for doctors to acquire any medicament-related information or ask any other department doctors’ help. Instead of the doctors’ gender or age, “recognize the doctor or not” is the principal issue considered by doctors seeking medical help. But, if it is compared with “the doctor’s medical skill”, the latter is definitely more important. In the doctor-patient relationship, being a sick doctor rather than a therapeutic doctor was found to cause fewer communication problems. The results unveiled western medical doctors’ viewpoints on three different medical systems as well. They trust western medicine most, Chinese medicine second and alternative therapy lastly. The same utilization order among these different systems can also be seen in sick doctors. The attitude of sick doctors making use of Chinese medicine is based on “the lack of an effective therapy in western medicine” and “give it a try, there’s nothing to lose”. Basically, there is a positive correlation between faith and utilization of three different medical systems by sick doctors. The medical environment where doctors serve also plays an important role in the utilization of Chinese medicine by western medical doctors. This means that in fields that offer Chinese medical services, western medical doctors have a higher utilization of Chinese medicine than in fields that do not offer this service. The research points out that there is an obviously declining trend among Taiwanese doctors to utilize Chinese medicine and alternative therapy after practicing a clinical job. On the other hand, focusing on the treatment of malignant tumors, the utilization of Chinese medicine by sick doctors is going to double, and a triple rise is expected in the utilization of alternative therapy.